Transport Biofuels

Liquid biofuels for vehicles can be based on alcohol or vegetable oils. Alcohol-based fuels such as bioethanol can be obtained from crops with high sugar and starch content, including sugar beet and barley. Biodiesel fuels can be made by processing vegetable oils extracted from crops such as rapeseed.

Growing interest in biofuels

Interest in producing transport biofuels is growing rapidly, not least because their use instead of fuels based on fossil oil can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus help to mitigate climate change. Using more biofuels can also help to increase Finland’s energy security and self-sufficiency by reducing dependence on imported petrochemicals.

The European Union is promoting the use of biofuels. The Biofuels Directive (2003) aimed to replace 5.75% of the fossil petrol and diesel fuels used in transportation with biofuels by 2010. More recently an EU-wide target has been set that 10% of transport fuel in each member state should consist of by biofuels by 2020.